Jaffa Cakes

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Jaffa Cakes are a popular type of cake sold under a number of different brands, the market leader being McVitie's (United Biscuits); the name is derived from Jaffa oranges, which in turn take their name from the Israeli city of Jaffa.

Contents 1 Specifications 2 Urban legend 3 Cake or biscuit? 4 Spin-offs 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Specifications

Regular-sized Jaffa Cakes are circular, approximately 54 mm (2⅛ inches) in diameter. They comprise three layers; a sponge base, a layer of orange jam of narrower diameter than the base (approximately 38 mm), and a layer of chocolate covering the jam and the margin of the sponge.

There have been debates as to whether Jaffa Cakes are cakes or biscuits. But some have pointed out the fact that cakes go hard when not stored to keep fresh, and biscuits go soft when not stored, so specifically the Jaffa Cake is simply a small cake.

McVitie's signed a sponsorship deal with Manchester United F.C. in 2000, making Jaffa Cakes one of the team's eleven 'platinum' sponsors. Sven-Göran Eriksson announced that Jaffa Cakes would join the England squad in Japan for the 2002 FIFA World Cup as part of their training diet.^[1]

The LU brand makes a similar product called Pim's Orange^[2].

[edit] Urban legend

There have been claims in the media that the orange centres in Jaffa Cakes are made from apricot and flavoured with tangerine oil. This urban legend may have originated in a 2002 article in The Daily Telegraph^[3]. The myth gained status when it was published as fact in QI: The Book of General Ignorance, a 2006 book based on the BBC television series QI. The book's claim was repeated in a 2006 article in The People^[4].

According to the list of ingredients on packs of Jaffa Cakes, Jaffa Cakes in fact contain no apricot, or tangerine, and are made with orange juice, an assertion protected by UK food labelling laws.^[5]

[edit] Cake or biscuit?

Under UK law, no VAT is charged on biscuits and cakes — they are "zero rated". Chocolate covered biscuits, however, are subject to VAT at 17.5%. McVities classed its Jaffa Cakes as cakes, but in 1991, this was challenged by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the case ended up before the courts.^[6] This may have been because Jaffa Cakes are about the same size and shape as some types of biscuit. A question that the court asked itself was "what criteria should be used to class something as a cake?"

McVities defended its classification of Jaffa Cakes as cakes. In doing so it produced a giant Jaffa Cake to illustrate that its Jaffa Cakes were simply mini cakes.

McVities argued that a distinction between cakes and biscuits is, inter alia, that biscuits would normally be expected to go soft when stale, whereas cakes would normally be expected to go hard. It was demonstrated to the Tribunal that Jaffa Cakes become hard when stale. Other factors taken into account by the Chairman, Mr Potter QC, included: name, ingredients, texture, size, packaging, marketing, presentation, appeal to children, and manufacturing process. Contrary to a commonly held belief, whether something is considered a 'luxury item' is not a test for VAT purposes.

Mr Potter ruled that the Jaffa Cake is a cake. McVities therefore won the case and VAT is not paid on Jaffa Cakes.^[7]

[edit] Spin-offs

There have been a number of spin-off products produced:

• Jaffa Cake bars, a rectangular bar composed of one layer of softer sponge, with orange jam on top, and surrounded by chocolate.
• Jaffa Corners, a variant of the Müller Corner yogurt brand.
• Jaffa Mini Roll, a swiss roll composed of the same ingredients as the Jaffa Cake bars.
• Jaffa Cake Muffins, a muffin with orange jam in the middle and chocolate on top.
• In 2005, McVitie's launched Jaffa Cake Zingy Blackcurrant, a regularly composed cake with a blackcurrant flavoured centre. In 2006, it launched a Jaffa Cake Lemon and Lime variant and in 2007 Apple and Blackberry and Cranberry and Orange variants.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website